Atomic OSSEC vs Open Source Tripwire

Atomic OSSEC is an endpoint detection and response system that also protects cloud workloads and APIs. Its monitoring covers intrusion detection, file integrity, log management, active response, and vulnerability management. A GUI centralizes management of agents, servers, events, file integrity monitoring, rollbacks, and third-party integrations. The product lists more than 5,000 preconfigured OSSEC rules and out-of-the-box integrations for Splunk, ArcSight, ELK, and QRadar. It supports AWS, Azure, and GCP, and offers compliance reporting for frameworks including PCI DSS, HIPAA, NIST, GDPR, and CIS. Deployment can be on premises or cloud-based SaaS, including in air-gapped environments. The maker also describes support for legacy systems such as Windows, Linux, AIX, HP-UX, and Solaris, plus monitoring of operational technology without agents on sensitive equipment. A 14-day trial covers up to 10 licenses and does not require a credit card. The listed plan price is priced on request, pricing starts at $55 per agent, and bulk discounts are available; a separate pricing note says from $5/mo.

Open Source Tripwire is free file and directory integrity-monitoring software for Linux, macOS, BSD variants, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Minix, Haiku, GNU/Hurd, and Cygwin. It compares the current filesystem with a known baseline and reports differences. A policy file defines monitored paths and checked attributes such as hashes, permissions, and ownership. Policy, configuration, and database files are signed by default, while reports may also be signed. Email reports are available when enabled in configuration. The project suggests scheduling periodic checks with cron, but its install script does not create those jobs. RPM, Debian, and make-based installation use a setup script for initial keys and policy creation. It runs on the user’s own system rather than as a managed service. Windows builds through Cygwin lack Registry monitoring and Windows-specific file attributes. The software uses GNU GPL version 2 or any later version. Separate commercial Tripwire products are also offered.